BBC The Blue Planet Disc 3: Coral Seas (2002)

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Life on a coral reef starts with one coral larva which lands in the right place and grows. Soon it's a coral head, cemented and secure on the seabed. A tiny algae that lives in its tissues allows the coral to grow night and day and as more corals settle, a reef develops. Overcrowding follows as corals expand and soon they're fighting - digesting their neighbours alive under cover of darkness.

Corals are protected by a hard, limestone skeleton, but bumphead parrot fish bite straight through rock and coral with their powerful jaws. These fish erode the coral and the material they swallow comes out the other end as fine sand. On a single reef they can produce tonnes of sand every year. This soft sand forms beautiful tropical white beaches and eventually creates tropical islands!

A sinister crown of thorns starfish slides on to a coral, spreads its stomach over the polyps and digests them whole. The only protection a coral can hope for is a small crab which takes up residence in the coral's branches and uses its pincers to nip the starfish to see it off.

Night on the reef is a tough time. Moray eels slither around the corals hunting by smell. Whitetip sharks use their electrical sense to trace any movement in the sleeping fish. Feeding frenzies disturb the otherwise eerie calm of the reef.

An entire reef can be destroyed by one big storm: hundreds of years of growth wiped out in a few hours. But out at sea, new life continues to develop and, in time, coral larvae return to colonise the rubble and a new reef grows on the wasteland.
Peter's DVD rating: 5.0 stars
Breathtaking scenes in this episode includes coral polyps fighting, a Snapping Shrimp colony living in a sponge and fighting off a Polychete Worm. the mating rituals of several species, and the spawning of corals. This is nature documentary at its best.
1:50 Coral larva spawns and grows into colony 3:30 Christmas Tree Worm lives within the coral 4:10 Grouper? and Hawksbill Turtle? cleaned by Cleaner Wrasse
4:55 Whale Sharks feed on plankton 5:30Coral polyp structure: limestone skeleton 6:55Inside corals are Algae ("plants"), amount of sunlight regulated by pigments seen in UV light
9:00 Butterflyfish eat coral 9:15 Coral polyps emerge at night by extending tentacles to feed 10:10 Coral polyps fight by digesting rivals
11:40 Crown-of-Thorns Starfish attacks corals, defended by Sangogani Crab? , which eats mucous from the coral 13:25 Humphead Parrotfish eat coral, excrete sand to form beaches 15:25 Sooty Tern?s nest on island
16:40 Jacks prey on shoals of Silversides 17:55 Snapping Shrimp? queen in a colony (like bees) hiding in sponge 19:00 Polychete Worm attacks Snapping Shrimp
20:40 Red-mouthed Grouper? preys on Dartfish 21:15Red-mouthed Grouper fights Lionfish for territory 22:25 Harlequin Shrimp attack Seastar by flipping it on its back
23:45 Powder Blue Tang feed on Green Algae, and try to chase sway Convict Tangs 26:15 Basket Star crawls out at night to feed 27:40 Mottled Ray uses electroreceptors to hunt in the sand at night
28:50 Oceanic Whitetip Shark also hunt by electroreceptors 31:40 Brown Surgeon Fish mating ritual in the Red Sea 33:10 Fusiliers feed on eggs
32:55 Banded Pipefish courtship dance 36:45 Flamboyant Cuttlefish mating 38:00 Humpback Whale males sing to attract females
40:00 Coral spawning by temperature and tide 43:20 Atlantic Lobster?s migrate to deeper water during stormy season (Caribbeans) 45:05 Reef destruction from storm
Scleractinia
1:50 Coral
Spirobranchus
3:30 Christmas Tree Worm
Epiphelinae
4:10 Grouper?
Eretmochelys imbricata
4:10 Hawksbill Turtle?
Labroides
4:10 Cleaner Wrasse
Rhincodon typus
4:55 Whale Sharks
CORAL
6:55 pigments seen in UV light
Chaetodontidae
9:00 Butterflyfish
POLYP
9:15 Coral polyps emerge at night
POLYP
10:10 Coral polyps fight
Acanthaster planci
11:40 Crown-of-Thorns Starfish
Trapezia cymodoce
11:40 Sangogani Crab?
Bolbometopon muricatum
13:25 Humphead Parrotfish
Onychoprion fuscatus
15:25 Sooty Tern?s
Carangidae
16:40 Jacks
Menidia
16:40 Silversides
Synalpheus
17:55 Snapping Shrimp? queen
Polychaeta
19:00 Polychete Worm
Plectropomus
20:40 Red-mouthed Grouper?
Nemateleotris
20:40 Dartfish
Pterois volitans
21:15 Lionfish
Hymenocera picta
22:25 Harlequin Shrimp
Asteroida
22:25 Seastar
Acanthurus leucosternon
23:45 Powder Blue Tang
Acanthurus triostegus
23:45 Convict Tangs
Euryalida
26:15 Basket Star
Potamotrygon hystrix
27:40 Mottled Ray
Carcharhinus longimanus
28:50 Oceanic Whitetip Shark
Acanthurus nigrofuscus
31:40 Brown Surgeon Fish
Pterocaesio
33:10 Fusiliers
Micrognathus crinitus
32:55 Banded Pipefish
MICROGNATHUS CRINITUS
32:55 courtship dance
Metasepia pfefferi
36:45 Flamboyant Cuttlefish
Megaptera novaeangliae
38:00 Humpback Whale
CORAL
40:00 Coral spawning
Homarus americanus
43:20 Atlantic Lobster?s
REEF
45:05 Reef destruction from storm
   

Index Dec 25, 2005 CC BY 4.0 Peter Chen 2.0